Awatea '85

Awatea Cabernet/Merlots '16

A wine that exhibits the best qualities of great Hawke’s Bay cabernets/merlot - intense aromatic berry fruit characters, a rich mid-palate and a supple tannin structure. Awatea is a full flavoured wine that can be enjoyed over 8-10 years.

$35.90/ bottle

Tasting Notes 1985

1985 Awatea is a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Merlot.

It has a mid ruby/garnet colour, a fragrance of spice, blackcurrants and cedar, and a generous palate with firm tannins.

The 1985 Awatea and Coleraine were the first red wines at Te Mata made entirely by Peter Cowley.

Technical Analysis

Winemaking

The hand-picked grapes were destemmed and crushed, then given a traditional plunged and pumped-over fermentation. Following this, they were given extended maceration until racking and pressing.

The finished wine was then aged in 225 litre French oak barrels, 70% of which were new, for 18 months.

Vineyards

1985 Awatea Cabernet/Merlot was harvested between the 26th March and 24th April.

Origin

Awatea takes its name from the legendary ship SS Awatea (a Maori word meaning ‘Eye of the Dawn’) that sailed the Auckland - Sydney - Wellington route in the late 1930’s. The Awatea was requisitioned as a troop transport in WWII and was sunk off Algeria in 1942.